Winter solstice

So in my previous blog post I mentioned that winter is the most Yin time of year, with winter solstice being peak Yin.

So what does that mean?

(A wayyyyyy oversimplification for the purpose of this short educational blog post)

Everything, everything everything- nature, our bodies, and every system inside our bodies has both Yin and Yang. Some things are naturally more Yin and some things are naturally more Yang. But there is always some of each. When you look at the Yin Yang symbol that you are familiar with, the dark side of the symbol is Yin and the light side is Yang, but you see that there is a piece of Yin inside Yang, and a piece of Yang inside Yin. They are opposite and separate, they cannot exist without each other. And nothing is absolutely Yin or absolutely Yang.

Yin is female, north, earth, moon, space, matter, darkness, water, rest, contraction, flat, descending, below, quiet, softness, stillness, winter, fall.

whereas Yang is male, south, heaven, sun, time, energy, light, fire, activity, expansion, round, rising, above, action, heat, movement, spring, summer.

Everyday has its own Yin Yang cycle, so morning is more Yang, 12 noon being the most Yang, and then Yang becoming more Yin as the day goes on, with 12 midnight being the most Yin. Makes sense right?

So winter is the season that is the most Yin, with winter solstice being the most Yin day of the year. We understand this with winter solstice being the shortest day of the year (least amount of sunlight, remember sun is Yang, and darkness is Yin)- this will begin the transition from Yin to Yang.

Just a little context to for you before you enjoy the winter solstice this Thursday while you read your book fireside after eating a bowl of homemade soup :)